We are working on a project where the building exists and are finishing out the interior, thus ID +C. It seems to get any credit points for this category, a grey water collection system has to be introduced. I assume that many ID + C projects are in the same situation - an existing building in place. My MEP says that placing a grey water tank on site would cost tens of thousands of dollars. Collecting rooftop rainwater for commercial projects in the state of Colorado is illegal, so not an option. I could see that if this were a NC project where there is overall site construction that incorporating a grey water tank would be viable, but for buildings that already exist in place it seems extremely costly for any credits. Why is Water Reduction weighted so heavily for ID +C? We will have to write off 12 credit points because of this.
Thank you.
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Tristan Roberts
RepresentativeVermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
11474 thumbs up
August 9, 2016 - 11:41 am
Kerry, this credit counted for up to 11 points in LEED 2009 so it's not a big change. Definitely the percentage savings targets here are more aggressive.
Please feel free to share more detail on the existing fixtures and where you are trying to find savings.
Kerry Honsinger
Reynolds Ash and Associates6 thumbs up
November 10, 2016 - 7:47 pm
We are meeting the requirements by installing low usage fixtures and some fixtures are already existing, but this is a building with 12 toilets, and 12 sinks and 2 showers. Again, my MEP states that we cannot achieve it, and I quote.... "The prerequisite ( 0 points) water reduction requirement utilizes water wise fixtures that are pretty much already the lowest consumption mainstream fixtures on the market. To get any points you have to beat this target by a minimum of 25%. The only viable path to accomplish this is using grey water or alternative water sources or specialized fixtures, none of which are cost effective in this application"
Tristan Roberts
RepresentativeVermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
11474 thumbs up
November 15, 2016 - 6:29 pm
Kerry, I'm sure the calculations might be challenging and could reveal some difficulty, but I would disagree with your MEP. The toilet baseline is 1.6 gpf, and 1.28 gpf and lower toilets are common. Urinals -- 0.25 gpf is common. Lav sinks -- 0.25. These all allow for savings.
Kerry Honsinger
Reynolds Ash and Associates6 thumbs up
November 16, 2016 - 6:59 pm
Our project has 2 existing restrooms where we will leave the existing toilets and urinals. We are adding more restrooms to the building with new low gfp fixtures, including waterless urinals. To meet the prerequisite we don’t need to account for the existing fixtures. For the Credit(s), though, It’s not clear if the existing fixtures need to be accounted for in the plumbing calculator.
Tristan Roberts
RepresentativeVermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
11474 thumbs up
November 18, 2016 - 11:43 am
Kerry, you probably need to count the existing fixures. See the credit language above: "Include fixtures and fittings necessary to meet the needs of the occupants."
Kerry Honsinger
Reynolds Ash and Associates6 thumbs up
November 18, 2016 - 12:13 pm
In both the pre-requisite and the credit? Typically when I see this type of credit where credits are achieved by % of improvements, there is no difference in the method of calculation. The pre-requisite requires a 20% improvement. Credits begin to be achieved at 25% = 1, 30% = 2, etc. It doesn't make sense to calculate the pre-req and the credit differently???
Kerry Honsinger
Reynolds Ash and Associates6 thumbs up
November 18, 2016 - 12:14 pm
..... and your 'credit language' reference isn't showing up???
Tristan Roberts
RepresentativeVermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
11474 thumbs up
November 18, 2016 - 4:41 pm
Kerry, I"m linking to the official LEED credit language, which is displayed above. I see that you're not a LEEDuser premium member, so you'll need to pay (our eminently affordable) fee to see this and other premium content.
WE in CI is unique in that the prerequisite covers only fixtures in the project scope and tenant space, while the credit covers all fixtures needed by tenants. Compare the credit language of the two.